Farmer's Market Flowers Pt 1
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. It's a farm to table story, of sorts, that just makes you feel good. My wife and I were at the Mill Creek Farmers Market recently when we walked by a flower vendor, tended by the nicest young lady, with the most beautiful display set up under her awning.
We struck up a conversation and discovered that besides producing some beautiful bouquets, Chong Vang and her family immigrated to the United States before ever planting flowers ...
CHONG VANG ... "Me: And your family came her from ... Thailand? Chong: Thailand, yes! Me: And, when did you guys move here? Chong: 2004! Me: 2004, so you were just little? Chong: Yeah, I was 4 years old when we moved here."
Chong says their flower business started about 10 years ago ...
CHONG VANG ... "When we first moved here, we just helped around at markets with our relatives, cousins and aunts. We'd just help around, we helped them farm and then my grandparents and my mom and my dad just decided, hey, why not start a business of our own. So, we farmed with our relatives for like a year or so and then we just decided to do it."
The 17-year old flower farmer says their planting and cutting season is now a summer-long endeavor ...
CHONG VANG ... "All summer-long. In the beginning, we'll have like tulips and all that stuff and then, that'll be over, and after that the lilies and then, that'll be over, the ending flowers are the dahlias."
Listen tomorrow and find out more about this ambitious young farmer, how she manages this family business, and, with college right around the corner, where she sees her future.
